Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Sunday

Iraqis Fear Return of Baath Party

Aired May 04, 2003 - 16:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Still no definitive answers as to whether Saddam Hussein is still alive, and that makes some Iraqis uneasy with worries about what persistent Baath party members might do next. CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, joins us from Baghdad. And Nic, how are people taking these fears? Are they staying home and just not venturing out at all?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the concerns that people have are as the organization for reconstruction and humanitarian assistance, that is the U.S. -run civil administration of Iraq, as it begins to set up the new political institutions, and we saw one today get a new commission appointed to it. That was the ministry of industry, minerals and state-run enterprises.

As they see these new government offices set up, what concerns people here is what happened to all those Baath party members? Saddam Hussein's ruling party was a Baath party. It had possibility several million members, many of them in influential positions. Saddam Hussein is not tracked down, only less than two dozen of his top Baath party officials arrested so far, and people ask the question, what happened to all those mid and senior level officials? Where are they? And that is raising a lot of very serious concerns at this time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): In Adamia (ph), a north Baghdad neighborhood formerly staunchly loyal to Saddam Hussein, a handful of U.S. troops keeps watch. Occasional small foot patrols show presence, but the back streets here are beyond their regular control.

In broad daylight, armed men keep watch at the entrance to this up market community, but say little about their former leader.

"Saddam is probably dead," he says, "yet probably alive. Only God knows."

It was in this neighborhood, as his regime was falling on April 9th, that Saddam Hussein purportedly made his last public appearance. And while none will hint at his whereabouts now, many of his Arab Socialist Baath Party members who live here have simply gone to ground.

"We don't know if they are weak or strong," says this parking attendant with a note of fear. (on camera): Some people, however, are still too afraid to speak their minds about the Baath Party. Chief among their concerns are that some middle and senior ranking officials are returning unopposed to often quite influential positions in the health service and other government sectors.

(voice-over): Across Baghdad, Riyad (ph) shows the bullet holes recently shot in the front of his house. He explains his father was the local namekeeper for the Baath Party, a position of power and influence, but dismisses the thought he is being targeted for having party associations.

His neighbor Hamid comes to his defense. "The namekeeper's job is only to confirm addresses for the state," he says, "the sort of area leader, but just to authenticate addresses."

At the end of the street, other neighbors have set up barricades to help keep Riyad and his family safe. This, despite the fact Riyad and his brothers were known Baath Party security workers.

In another Baghdad neighborhood, where the lawns are well kept and the houses big, Dr. Amid Abdul Haleem explains.

AMID ABDUL HALEEM: ...the men working in the Baath Party, all of them are not good men. In fact, there's a good man and there's a bad man.

ROBERTSON: Men bad enough for this former top Baath Party official to want to keep his identity hidden. Now he's speaking out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator) I believed in the party since 1958 and thought it would fulfill the ambitions of the Arabs. But when Saddam controlled the party, he turned it into a watchdog for the system.

ROBERTSON (on camera): No one really knows for sure exactly how many Iraqis were in the Baath Party. Members were drawn from all walks of life, workers, students, professionals. Some here estimate as many as one to two million people could have been in their ranks, reporting back to headquarters like this one.

(voice-over): But as U.S. forces continue to take top Baath Party officials, like Tariq Aziz into custody, the likelihood of the party reforming diminishes. The question remains, however, even with Saddam's legacy slowly being erased, will his old party just fade away or gradually try to reassume the mantles of power?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: That was a question that was raised in a Ministry of Industry's news briefing. Today, the answer from officials there was that, no, Baath party officials may not get back into office if they have committed human rights violations, been involved in the production of weapons of mass destruction, or have been involved in acts of terrorism. They say officials here say there will be some filtering to stop some members getting back in, but clearly some Baath party members will be back in positions of power and influence fairly soon -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Thank you, Nic, in Baghdad.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 4, 2003 - 16:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Still no definitive answers as to whether Saddam Hussein is still alive, and that makes some Iraqis uneasy with worries about what persistent Baath party members might do next. CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, joins us from Baghdad. And Nic, how are people taking these fears? Are they staying home and just not venturing out at all?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the concerns that people have are as the organization for reconstruction and humanitarian assistance, that is the U.S. -run civil administration of Iraq, as it begins to set up the new political institutions, and we saw one today get a new commission appointed to it. That was the ministry of industry, minerals and state-run enterprises.

As they see these new government offices set up, what concerns people here is what happened to all those Baath party members? Saddam Hussein's ruling party was a Baath party. It had possibility several million members, many of them in influential positions. Saddam Hussein is not tracked down, only less than two dozen of his top Baath party officials arrested so far, and people ask the question, what happened to all those mid and senior level officials? Where are they? And that is raising a lot of very serious concerns at this time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): In Adamia (ph), a north Baghdad neighborhood formerly staunchly loyal to Saddam Hussein, a handful of U.S. troops keeps watch. Occasional small foot patrols show presence, but the back streets here are beyond their regular control.

In broad daylight, armed men keep watch at the entrance to this up market community, but say little about their former leader.

"Saddam is probably dead," he says, "yet probably alive. Only God knows."

It was in this neighborhood, as his regime was falling on April 9th, that Saddam Hussein purportedly made his last public appearance. And while none will hint at his whereabouts now, many of his Arab Socialist Baath Party members who live here have simply gone to ground.

"We don't know if they are weak or strong," says this parking attendant with a note of fear. (on camera): Some people, however, are still too afraid to speak their minds about the Baath Party. Chief among their concerns are that some middle and senior ranking officials are returning unopposed to often quite influential positions in the health service and other government sectors.

(voice-over): Across Baghdad, Riyad (ph) shows the bullet holes recently shot in the front of his house. He explains his father was the local namekeeper for the Baath Party, a position of power and influence, but dismisses the thought he is being targeted for having party associations.

His neighbor Hamid comes to his defense. "The namekeeper's job is only to confirm addresses for the state," he says, "the sort of area leader, but just to authenticate addresses."

At the end of the street, other neighbors have set up barricades to help keep Riyad and his family safe. This, despite the fact Riyad and his brothers were known Baath Party security workers.

In another Baghdad neighborhood, where the lawns are well kept and the houses big, Dr. Amid Abdul Haleem explains.

AMID ABDUL HALEEM: ...the men working in the Baath Party, all of them are not good men. In fact, there's a good man and there's a bad man.

ROBERTSON: Men bad enough for this former top Baath Party official to want to keep his identity hidden. Now he's speaking out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translator) I believed in the party since 1958 and thought it would fulfill the ambitions of the Arabs. But when Saddam controlled the party, he turned it into a watchdog for the system.

ROBERTSON (on camera): No one really knows for sure exactly how many Iraqis were in the Baath Party. Members were drawn from all walks of life, workers, students, professionals. Some here estimate as many as one to two million people could have been in their ranks, reporting back to headquarters like this one.

(voice-over): But as U.S. forces continue to take top Baath Party officials, like Tariq Aziz into custody, the likelihood of the party reforming diminishes. The question remains, however, even with Saddam's legacy slowly being erased, will his old party just fade away or gradually try to reassume the mantles of power?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: That was a question that was raised in a Ministry of Industry's news briefing. Today, the answer from officials there was that, no, Baath party officials may not get back into office if they have committed human rights violations, been involved in the production of weapons of mass destruction, or have been involved in acts of terrorism. They say officials here say there will be some filtering to stop some members getting back in, but clearly some Baath party members will be back in positions of power and influence fairly soon -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Thank you, Nic, in Baghdad.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com